Ariel's Grotto 101

[PineapplePrincessCA]

Just starting to plan my Disneyland/Calif. Adventure trip. Startin' off with some basic questions.


My girls LOVE Ariel.


What exactly is "Ariel's Grotto"? It's a restaurant, but Ariel is also there to pose with guests and take pictures?

What else can you tell me about it?

Are there any other characters there? Is Ariel in a certain spot and you wait in line for a picture or does she roam around the restaurant (??) (sorry, kinda dumb question, but we've never been to a "character meal" before. )

Are they open for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Does anybody have pictures they can share?


Thanks so much for the help! Not really sure exactly what it is, but I know my girls will love it! LOL

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Ariel's is a restaurant in DCA that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ariel is always there. You will enter the restaurant and come down the stairs and find Ariel at the bottom. She will pose for pictures and sign autographs right there. After you are seated 4 other princesses will be announced and come around to the tables to sign autographs and take pictures. I will try and get some pics posted.

 

[Raindown]

What exactly is "Ariel's Grotto"?

It is a restaurant that serves breakfast (albeit kinda late), lunch, and dinner. Before you are seated you meet Ariel and pose for a photo with her (one photo per reservation is the rule). She remains at the front to greet each reservation as you come down this spiral set of stairs. It's pretty and builds anticipation.

You are then seated. 3 or 4 other princesses come and visit your table. There is no need to get up, but to take photos. There is both inside and outside seating and you specify which you want at the time you make your reservation. IMO it is a fun experience. You may want to watch some YouTube videos to get a better sense of what occurs there. Its fun for adults as well at kids if you like the princesses.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Sorry, thought I had more pics than this...but they must be on my mom's camera!

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Before you are seated you meet Ariel and pose for a photo with her (one photo per reservation is the rule).

We were there in November and took several different pictures/poses of Ariel w/ my 2 girls. I wonder if that's a new rule?

 

[Monkey Monkey]

We were there in November and took several different pictures/poses of Ariel w/ my 2 girls. I wonder if that's a new rule?

You are allowed to take several pics, but I believe the photog only takes one.

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

So you can take your own pictures or they have somebody there taking pictures you can buy?


Great info! Thank you so much! My girls will LOVE this!

I just found a link to the menu. One set price? Is it a buffet?

How early should we make reservations? Does it fill out up quickly? (we're going in 5 weeks)


Thanks again.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

So you can take your own pictures or they have somebody there taking pictures you can buy?


Great info! Thank you so much! My girls will LOVE this!

I just found a link to the menu. One set price? Is it a buffet?

How early should we make reservations? Does it fill out up quickly? (we're going in 5 weeks)


Thanks again.

You can take your own photos and they have a photographer there as well to try and sell you the photos later.

One set price (for children and adults) and it is not a buffet. There are several entrees to choose from. The appetizer they start with is an antipasta tower that has cheeses, veggies, salad, etc. that you all share. The dessert is also family style.

You can book 60 days out. I have been able to get reservations a few days out but not at a very good time, so I would call as soon as you can to get best choice of time!

 

[Raindown]

We were there in November and took several different pictures/poses of Ariel w/ my 2 girls. I wonder if that's a new rule?

Perhaps the host was behind schedule, but it is not the first time I have heard it. You can take as many pics as you want but they don't want a lot of switching out (i.e. mother and father, then father and X, mother and X). The host barked a little bit when the group in front of us did it and there was no one behind us. This was last week.

 

[Raindown]

One set price (for children and adults) and it is not a buffet.

This is one of the reasons I like this meal. I found it exciting enough waiting for the princesses to come around and didn't eat till they all came. I'd be nervous if I had to buffet it.

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

Thanks for the great info!



Let me back up a bit and ask a couple of very basic questions...


did your kids like it? Do you think it was worth it and would you recommend it?

Sure looks great to me!

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Its our favorite character meal, dd loves it... the princesses are great, and the food is fantastic!

 

[dizneedoll]

Do you need to either pay or leave a credit card guarantee at the time of booking a reservation?

 

[Sherry E]

As a matter of fact, PineapplePrincessCA, check out our dedicated character meal photo & info thread when you have time - I have not looked through it in a while, but from what I recall, several DIS-ers posted photos from Ariel's Grotto:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2234435

 

[Monkey Monkey]

Thanks for the great info!



Let me back up a bit and ask a couple of very basic questions...


did your kids like it? Do you think it was worth it and would you recommend it?

Sure looks great to me!

I've been with my son several times. He loves it! He gets a lot of attention from the princesses because he's a dude, and he eats it up!

I don't think the food is worth the price, but the character interaction makes it worthwhile. I have no doubt that I will go again sometime!

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Do you need to either pay or leave a credit card guarantee at the time of booking a reservation?

No - you just book the time. No credit card needed.

My girls love it too and the food was really good!

 

[lulubelle]

The picture below is DD & I at Ariel's last month. The food is really good and I like how they come to you - no waiting in line for characters OR food. It is expensive but a nice treat. I hope you decide to try it!

 

[Anj]

It was worth it to us. We have 3 young girls (2, 5 and 7) and they loved it. We did the breakfast and really liked how it was served (cheese and fruit on a stacking platter, then hot items came out later on a platter and you served yourself off the warm platter on your table. There was a very good variety of bfast items, we thought.

 

[BlueBayou]

TIP - for if you do decide to do a breakfast.

We were there with a table of 9. There was a TON of food left over (since it is family style). The other mom asked for a to go box. We packed up all fruit, cheese and bread. It was our kids snacks all day. While the price of the breakfast is not cheap, we saved mucho snack $$$.

 

[Queen Elisabeth]

We had a "princess day" and my girls (4 and 5 at the time) wore princess dresses to the park. They had a mid-day appointment at the boutique so they got to walk around all done up for a few hours before our early evening dinner at Ariel's. They LOVED it. The princess interaction is nice and I love the atmosphere there. The restaurant has an underwater theme that's really cool and the food was decent. We will definitely be doing it again as it's one of the things that they still talk about the most.